It is not uncommon for software projects to be cancelled or delayed, but how can you work as a QA in an agile environment?. Software projects that are agile in nature and use a test-driven development methodology tend to increase the likelihood of risk. The QA team is often seen as a barrier between the developers and the business side, slowing down releases and preventing progress from being made or bugs from being discovered.

Software testing is a vital part of the development process and can help developers and project managers deliver high-quality software products. The end goal of software testing is to ensure that what we ship meets operational needs and product expectations.

What is agile project management?

Agile project management involves making decisions based on the current state of the project and its objectives. This state is constantly changing as developers work to deliver their portions of the product. Agile project management requires constant communication between all involved parties, including stakeholders, developers, managers, testers and business users. The collaboration allows everyone involved to make decisions based on their current knowledge.

Why is agile efficient?

1. Better quality of the end product

Because agile project management makes it possible to deliver high-quality products efficiently. This method of working can increase the productivity of testers because it allows them to collaborate with other development personnel to design and conduct testing activities.

2. Collaboration

Collaborate with developers and other stakeholders during the development process. This helps ensure all product deliverables meet the needs of the intended users and that all technical debt is removed. Focus on creating high-quality deliverables because testing will happen concurrently with development.

Read more about the differences between agile and waterfall methodology here.

What’s so great about QA Collaboration?

The collaborative aspect of testing allows QA personnel to:

a) Test the product early, often and throughout the development process.
b) Help identify technical debt early in the proudct’s lifecycle.
c) Identify bugs earlier than developers do.

Assist with identifying product risks, assessing their level of impact on the project and help create mitigation strategies for them during project planning.

Now that you know why working collaboratively is so beneficial for QA personnel, let’s take a look at how this method of working is implemented in an agile environment and what agile testing is.

What is Agile Testing?

In an agile environment, testing is an integral part of the development process. Because it’s conducted concurrently, agile testing allows testers to design and conduct their QA activities quickly and efficiently in any way they see fit. This means the QA team can.

Perform exploratory and usability testing in parallel with development. Enforce quality requirements early in the lifecycle. Test often, usually daily.

What types of testing is involved in agile testing?

The first thing you should know about agile testing is that it includes all of the following activities, and they all vary based on your product.

• Functional Testing
• Integration testing
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Code Reviews – takes place for
• Unit Testing Acceptance Testing

Read more about the different types of automation testing here.

Conclusion

Agile project management has been praised as one of the best methods of project management as it allows product owners to deliver products that meet the needs of their users and stakeholders.